Chemical appliance



I. J. PORTER. CHEMICAL APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED DEC-3.1919.

1,401, 1 85 Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

god newton John d1 Porter" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOHN JERMAIN PORTER, or nnenns'rown, MARYLAND.

CHEMICAL APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented D60. 27, 1921.

Application filed December 8, 1919. Serial No. 342,140.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN J. Pon'rnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hagerstown, county of iVashington, State of Maryland, havelnvented certain new and useful Improvements in' Chemical Appliances;and I do hereby declare the follow-' each other in water or othersolution, usually but not necessarily in the presence of an addedindicator One especially useful embodiment ofthe invention isa devlce ofthis I general character which can be employed as a chemical toy toproduce spectacular color changes ina solutlon contalning an indicatorlGenerally described, the appliance form-' ing the subject matter of theinvention comprises'a member provided with a plurality ofreagent-holding means which are suitably spaced apart and which are ofsuch char actor that when exposed to liquid they will permit passage ofliquid. into and out of contact with the contained reagent. In genactwhen. brought together in aqueous solu-- eral the reagents contained inthese separate container should be adapted to intertion, and mostdesirably such reagents should produce strikingly different color reactions either with or without special indicators; so that when thecontainers are suc cessively dipped nto a solvent such as water,

successive color changes are produced. For

example, the member may be provided with two containers of the characterdescribed, one holding a basicreagent'and the other an acidic reagent.

the. conduct of an indicator with different p t v By manipulating themember in such manner as to dip the con reagents; or it may of course beemployed to furnish spectacular effects in color changes for purposes ofamusement and entertainment. The appliance therefore serves both as aneducational device and a fascinating toy. 7

While the device of the invention is susceptible of employment foruseful and practical purposes, it is more particularly adapted as beforestated, for use as a chemical toy; and in order to afford a fullunderstanding of the invention, anembodiment thereof in the form of whatmay be called aimagic wand is hereinafter more particularly described indetail for purposes of illustration. A magic wand embodying theprinciples of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawingwhich is a View in side elevation, part being shown in section.

Referring to the drawing, 10 is a 1ne1nber,1nost desirably; in the formof a rod of suitable material such as glass or the like, such rod inthis instance being provided with terminal enlargements or knobs l1,which may be provided for the purpose of more securely holding in placeonthe opposite ends of the rod, reagent-holding means comprising in thisinstance pieces of rubber tubing 12, said tubing being of quite smallinternal diameter for best results.

Each piece of tubin being stretched to.

some extent where it passes, over the knob on the corresponding end ofthe rod, is thus firmly secured to the rod frictionally. Each piece oftubing extends sufficiently far beyond the corresponding end of the rodto provide a container for a lump or tablet of a solid soluble reagentwhich can be inserted into the open free end of thetube. The wall of thecontainer being elastic in this instance, the lump or tablet may befirmly held thereby even after a; considerable portionof the-reagenthasbeen dissolved. It will be seen that the containers thus provided areliquid permeable by virtue of the small passage provided by the tubingbore which is open'at the free endof each piece 1 spirit of theinvention.

colorless to pink or red, the depth of color depending principally uponthe amount of indicatorin the solution. By then reversing the rodand st1rr1ng--w1th the other end carrying the tablet of sodium bisulfate, thepink or red basic solution 1s neutralized and rendered colorless. Thesecolor reversals can be'contmued indefinitely,-

to the great amusement and wonderment of children, and also forinstruction in the'underlying chemical principles involved.

With a device of the character described,

many other reversible color reactions, in

volvingthe use of an indicator or not, may evidently be carried out inan analogous manner; for instance, the iodin-thiosulfate consideredbroadly as holding means,

' whether such means comprise a single memmade in the form and detailsof thecon struction here illustrated for purposes of explanation,without departing from the F or example, the reagent containers may beof any other-"suitable characteri enabling chemical reagents to be :heldin the manner described and alternately or successively presented to asolution in the, general mann'er 'described. For example, instead ofbemg-made ofrubher, the chemlcal holdingi meansmay be I made of anyother suitable elastic or springy -material that is suflicien'tlyelastic to grip the lump of chemical matter and thus hold Orthecontainer may, be a porous envelop orba sket, formedof fabric, wiregauze, perf0rated metal. 0r the like. ,The specifi constructionillustrated, in which small rubber tubingis employed-for the containers,is especially ad:

it in proper position.

vantageous, however, because of'its simr plicity and because of the easewith which fresh tablets of'chemicals can be inserted to replace thosewhichhave been exhausted,-

In the particular embodiment of the inven -tion', the tablets or pelletsare shown as more 101 less conical in :form to facilitate insercomprise'aset of two or'more separate rods;

tion of the containersybut while this has her such as the rod hereillustrated, or a plurality of separate members adapted to cooperate asa set, each member of a set having mounted thereon a chemicalcoordinated to the chemical mounted on the other memberer members, such,for example, as a soluble acid reagent on one member, and a solublebasic reagent on another member, the reagents being preferably insolidform.

What I claim is:

1. An" appliance for inducing chemical and physical reactions whichcomprises a member provided at spaced localities with a plurality ofreceivers for separately holding different chemical reagents, suchreceivers being arranged to prevent'the contents of one receiverfromentering another receiver, each receiver being arranged to permitingross and egress of liquidwhen exposed to the samei 2. An applianceforinducing chemical and physical reactions comprising a rod-like 3. Anappliance for inducing chemical rand physical reactions comprising thecomsomepractical advantages,rit"is in no -sense essential.

In its broader aspects, the invention is not limited toaunitary.apparatus or appliance in which the several reagent-containers-aresupported upon amsingle holdingmember suchas a'rod orrthe like. Thatis'to 'say," the apparatus or appliance may or other holding: members,each provided with a' reagent container for areagent 00-.

. ofthe' set and adaptedto be employed alternately orsucces'sivelyas-may be required ordinated to the 'other reagent'zor reagents 'tobring about the desired reaction or reactions. 1 The means forsupporting the ,sep-

arate reagent containers may therefore be bination, with a rod, oftwo'pieces of: rubber tubing mounted on'opposite endsiof said rod, eachpiece being open at its free end and extending beyond the correspondingend of the rod a'suificientrdistance' toiprovide a reagent receptacle. ii i 7 4. The combination, with. a memberprovided 1 with a plurality ofseparate liquidpermeable containers, of :difierent :coordinated chemicalreagents in the respective containers.

V 5.Thecombination, with a member-upro- "v'ided with a plurality ofseparate liquid permeable containers, of different. chemical reagents inthe respect ve containers, :said reagents belng adapted: tow-producedlflerent color reactions in solution.

i 6. The combinationQwith theappliance set forth. in claim 3, of;different coordinated solid reagents contained in said receptacles,

in solution.

said. reagents being capableof interacting 7. The combination; as setforthi in claim 6, in which the solid*reagentsrare,respectively, acidicand basic in: character.

8L The combination with.holding' means, of a: plurality of separateliquid-permeable containers supported thereby" and a'dapted. to

contain different chemical reagents, the coin tainers being arranged .toprevent' the contents of one container; from: entering anothercontainer. I i

9. Chemical magic apparatus comprising wand means supporting pluralityof separate non-communicating containers .that are permeable by liquidand that are substantially the same in appearance and mounting, incombination with soluble chemical reagents contained in the respectivecontainers and capable of reacting one upon an-v other to produce colorchanges in a liquid into which said containers are successively dipped.

10. Chemical magic apparatus as set forth in claim 9, in which saidcontainers are two in number and contain a solid acidic reagent and asolid basic reagent respectively.

11. A chemical appliance, comprising the combination, with a commonholder, of a plurality of coordinated chemicals mounted on said commonholder and so spaced apart thereon as to be separately immersible inliquid.

12. A chemical appliance, comprising the combination, with a commonholder, of a solid acid reagent and a solid basic reagent mounted onsaid common holder and so spaced apart thereon as to be separatelyimmersible in liquid.

In a chemical appliance, a rod provided with a terminal knob incombination with an. open tube of elastic material en gaging the knoband extending somewhat beyond the knob for the reception of} a lump of asolid reagent.

let. In a chemical appliance, a rod pro vided with a knob at each end incombina tion with a tube of elastic material extendingsomewhat beyondthe knobs for the reception of lumps of solid reagents.

15. A chemical toy comprising a wand provided at each end with aliquid-permeable reagent receptacle.

16. A chemical toy comprising a wand provided at each end with aliquid-permeable reagent receptacle, in combination with a soluble solidacidic reagent contained in one receptacle, and a soluble solid basicreagent contained in the other.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

JOHN JERMAIN PORTER.

